Cats and Dogs
by unknownxcelebrity
Summary: Alaivera is the last of her kind. Jacob Black has never even imagined meeting someone like her, let alone imprinting on her. Will they be able to push their differences aside or will this duo be as incompatible as cats and dogs?
1. The Hunt

I'm a rare breed, the only one of my kind that's still walking upright, and that's a huge load to carry at any age, 10… 20… 117. The worst part is waking up in the morning and still expecting to hear your father and nine brothers running around like wild animals, and finding nothing but an empty house.

I didn't have time to think about that as I raced through the trees, a pack of wolves chasing me for reasons I didn't understand. A single wolf I could handle, maybe even two or three, but an entire pack was deadly. So instead of being an idiot and fighting, I found myself running for my life.

They were close, so close in fact that I could smell them, and they weren't wolves, not really at least. The animals chasing after me were shape shifters, humans that hid behind the form of an animal; it would have disgusted me if I wasn't doing the same thing.

I knew that if I could just get far enough away in order to change without them seeing me; that I would fine. They would see me as a human and hopefully leave me alone; that was the only option that seemed fool proof to me so I ran faster than I ever had before. It was no use, they caught up to me easily and I could hear them starting to spread out, preparing to circle me. I only had one option left, even if it was risky.

My hind leg muscles tightened before I launched myself onto a low hanging branch of a large pine tree. Quickly I scrambled up onto a higher branch, and then a higher one, until I was a good fifteen feet off the ground and looking down at the pack of canines that had completely human minds. That just made them more dangerous in my opinion; an animal goes by instinct, a human by its brain.

I hissed at a large black wolf that stepped forward and reached up on its back legs in order to get a better view of me. I could have sworn I saw it smirk before howling, the other wolves did the same and I had the strange feeling that my night was about to get very bad.

Those idiot animals continued to howl and bark for an hour, I hissed and growled at them, hoping they'd be afraid of me, that didn't work. Finally they ceased their annoying vocalizations but I only got the chance to relax for a moment before a pick-up truck drove right up to my tree and a large Native American man stepped out.

Once they saw the man, the wolves changed in their human forms, I averted my eyes since they were all naked. Thankfully the men quickly pulled on pants, and the small female did the same with a large shirt dress.

"How do you think it got here?" asked the man that had been the large black wolf a few seconds ago. "It's been years since there's been one on the reservation." I hissed and everyone looked up at me but didn't voice their concerns on whether or not I could understand them. This hadn't been my first encounter with humans in this form and it wasn't difficult to imagine what they were thinking.

"Well, there's prey, fresh water, plenty of land" said the man that had exited the pick up truck. "I'm surprised there hasn't been one here before now." I growled but they didn't acknowledge me.

"What are you going to do with it?" asked a young boy that I found strange to look at. He couldn't have been more than thirteen but yet he had the body of a full grown man.

"Just going to relocate her out of town, we have people to think about and can't put them in danger." The man said, but my eyes stayed focused on a man to my left, he looked just like the others, yet so different at the same time and I was immediately fascinated with him.

I would have been content to stare at the man for hours, even days, but the click of the safety on a shot gun immediately brought my gaze back to the man that had just driven up.

He was looking down the barrel of a gun that was pointed right at me; my human side told me he wasn't going to hurt me since he was talking about just relocating me to another area, while my animal side started freaking out. I hissed, growled, snarled, basically did anything to show them that this really wasn't a good idea. But did it help? No.

The gun went off with off with a boom and a sharp pain in my side told me I had been hit. Yes, it hurt but I knew it wasn't a bullet under my flesh but a dart and as if to prove my point the effects quickly started to make themselves noticed. My body started going numb and while I was still conscious I felt myself fall out of the tree and hit the ground.

The wolves immediately ran to me and removed the dart in order to cut off the supply of the drug to my system. Something I was thankful for since too much of it could kill me.

"Where do you want it?" asked the boy that I had been intrigued with. He easily picked me up and held me as if I were a ragdoll.

"There's a cage in the back," said the man with the gun and my chuffer nodded before carrying me over to the bed of the truck and locking me in a small metal cage that made me want to kill something, and if I wasn't so out of it, I would have made my feelings clear.

As it was, I was currently having trouble keeping my eyes open and within seconds of entering the small confined place, I found myself slipping into unconsciousness, but strangely, I couldn't find the will to care.


	2. The Escape

I awoke with a start and found myself on a cold metal table in the middle of a large, white medical room. Not exactly the place I was expecting, and definitely not a good sign. I lifted my head since that was the only thing that didn't feel weighed down by cement blocks only to feel a hand gently pet my head in a soothing manner.

"Shh," said the man that was petting me and I turned to see the black wolf smiling down at me. I don't know why he thought touching an angry, wild, and possibly dangerous animal was good thing but his hand felt really good, so I was happy he had no common sense.

"There's a good kitty," he cooed and I growled. No one calls me kitty unless they really want to die.

"Sam, get away from that thing." My head snapped over to where the fascinating boy from the forest was standing. His hands were in his pockets and he was giving Sam a look that I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of.

I didn't know why he called me a "thing" but it hurt to hear that. Without thinking I chirped and Sam started scratching behind my ears. Maybe, I should chirp more often.

"You hurt her feelings." He said and ran his hand down my back which caused a shiver to go up my spine.

"It's a mountain lion," snarled the boy, "it doesn't have feelings." What crawled up his butt and died? The last time I checked, I didn't do anything to him except simply exist.

"Jacob, you're such an ass. Of course she has feelings, don't you girl?" Same cooed and started scratching me feverishly. My cougar side hated human contact but my human needed it, thrived with it and that was definitely the case now.

"Fine, get bitten." Said Jacob and Sam continued to pet me as if I was a gigantic house cat.

Slowly I started to feel a slight tingling in my feet that started to work its way up my legs. A sign that the drug was finally wearing off, maybe escape was still possible.

"She's not going to bite me," Sam told him. "I think she was a pet at one time." I couldn't speak but I did hiss to tell him how wrong he was.

"I swear she can understand you." Said Jacob but he backed up against the wall as if that just made him more unwilling to be around me.

"Cause she's a very smart girl," Sam cooed and I mentally smirked at that. "Very smart" I thought and jumped off the table before running out the door. The boys yelled and chased me down the hallway and through the lobby of the vet clinic where several people screamed and ran away. But the moment I stepped foot outside, I was gone.

Wolves were faster in the forest since they were more nimble and could weave in and out of trees, but I was more muscular and had stronger legs that propelled me over the grass on the side of the road like lightning.

I was slightly amazed by the fact that there were absolutely no cars on the small one lane road, even in the smallest towns I had been in there were at least a few vehicles on the street. It may have been strange, but it was also helpful, I didn't have to worry about being seen and just ran straight to the two story house that I had moved into the night before. I had left a window in the back of the home open and jumped through it easily.

The moment my paws hit the plush carpeting of the living room, I started to change. It was pretty expeditious but I felt the quick sharp pain spread over my body anyway.

"Okay, you're okay." I told myself as I closed the window and jumped onto one of the many platforms that I had secured onto the walls of my house. Each one was at a different height; the one I was currently sitting on was six feet off the ground. Being in the air helped me think, relax, and do anything else that I couldn't do while standing on the floor.

"There's no way they can know about you," I continued, "you're just a girl and that was just a mountain lion. Calm down." A knock on my front door made me jump and I thanked Bastet that I didn't scream.

"Coming!" I called and jumped off my perch before walking toward the front door. I opened it to find the same wolves that had been chasing me a few hours ago, standing on my front porch.

"Hello?" I asked calmly. I didn't have the same sense of smell as a wolf but my eye sight and ability to put things together was much sharper. So without them saying anything I knew they were uncomfortable, nervous, scared, but Jacob alone felt… happy?

"Hi," Sam held out his hand and I took it, remembering that we hadn't officially met. "I'm Sam Uley and you must be Alaivera," I nodded and managed to give a convincing smile. "We just came to inform you that there's a cougar in the vicinity and that everyone is being asked to go to Emily Young's home until it's caught." I heard everything he said but couldn't seem to look away from Jacob's eyes. They weren't filled with disgust like when he was looking at my cat form, but with longing.

"So I'd get going if I were you," said the young, strange boy that was standing to my right.

"Yeah, I'm going." I stepped out of my house and closed the door behind me. "Just point me in the right direction." Everyone literally pointed to a road on the end of my street.

"Follow the road." They said at the same time and I smiled before dashing off in the direction they had pointed. I felt so uncomfortable amongst people after being in my puma form and I wondered if there was anyway I could get out of this.

Properly not since they seemed like the kind of people that would throw me over their shoulder and forcefully bring me somewhere that they wanted me to be.

One thought that found its way into my mind was, "if a wild cat was out wouldn't it have been safer to stay inside? Why would they want people running around in order to get to one person's house?" I couldn't answer those questions as I came to a house that I guessed to be Emily's.

All the lights were on and I just stood and stared at the building for several seconds until I got the courage to walk up to the front door. Just as I was about to knock, the door flew open and woman with an ugly scar on the side of her face stood smiling at me.

"Well come on in," she gushed as she pulled me into the house. I looked around to see that my worst nightmare had come true. I was standing in a room filled with women.

_

* * *

_

Bastet- An Egyptian Goddess said to protect cats and those who care for them


	3. The Pack

[Jacob]

"Jakie has a girlfriend, Jakie has a girlfriend," the pack's thoughts kept floating through Jacob Black's mind as he circled Emily's house.

"Shut up," he sighed mentally but his anger only fueled their amusement. "That's not funny." The fact that he had imprinted on the weird girl, should have been his business, not his pack's.

"No, he's right," said Embry, "that's not funny, that's hilarious." Jacob mentally growled but that didn't stop Embry from continuing. "Mister 'I'm not going to imprint because I love Bella,' has finally seen the light."

"Embry, I'm about three seconds away from removing your watermelon sized head from your body." Growled the annoyed wolf, he had a job to do and hearing them go on and on about his personal life wasn't helping the situation.

"Near, far, wherever you are I believe that the heart does go on," sung Sam, Paul, Seth, Jared, and Quil. Jacob wasn't amused and jumped when a branch snapped behind him.

"What happened?" asked Sam when he noticed that Jake hadn't gotten on to them about singing the Titanic theme song.

"Thought I heard something," explained Jacob. He actually _knew_ he heard something but when he turned to look at the spot the noise had come from, he found absolutely nothing. "It was just my imagination." Even as he said that Jacob started walking in the direction that the sound had come from.

"Alright then," said Jared in a way that made it perfectly clear that there was another subject he wanted to discuss. "Jake, even you have to admit that Alaivera is beautiful." Jacob inwardly groaned and waited for the next idiot to speak up.

"Yeah, Jake" said Sam, "six foot one, blonde hair and blue eyes. If I didn't have Emily, then I'd definitely be on her doorstep. You know what I mean?" Unfortunately, he did.

"She's too tall" said Jacob, "Her hair's too light, and her eyes are weird." There was another snap somewhere out in the forest and Jake once again turned to find nothing there.

"Oh, you're just upset because she's not five-four, with dark hair and eyes," said Paul. "Seriously Jake, you need to get over that girl. She's starting to mess you up."

"I love her!" he exclaimed. "She's not someone I can just 'get over.' Damn! What the hell is making that noise?" Jacob turned suddenly to face the blonde haired girl that his friends had just been talking about.

[Alaivera]

I couldn't stay in that house, men I could deal with, but females were impossible, so when Emily asked me to sit down I turned her down and ran out of the house as if the fires of hell were licking at my ankles.

Jacob's scent hit me like a truck the moment I stepped out into the forest that surrounded Emily's home. If it were during the day then I would have gone straight to my house in order to avoid the wolf, but since the sun was already setting, I knew I could handle myself.

Normally I'm nocturnal, only coming out during the day if I absolutely have to. The night works well with my eye sight, and the moon has always given me a sense of security that I never got from the sun.

Slowly I started to walk in the direction of the constant growls and whines were coming from, finding the large and frustrated wolf, within minutes. He seemed to be having a silent conversation and I remembered that in most of the werewolf packs I had met, the members were connected while in animal form.

For the next few minutes I broke sticks under my feet and ducked out of the way before Jacob saw me, he may have disliked my game, but that's what he gets for being a cat hater. When he let out a loud whine and spun around to find the source of the sound, I decided that he had been tortured long enough.

"Hi Jake," I said and waved before sitting down on the ground and resting my head in my hands. "Whatcha doing?" He looked at me with shock visible in his eyes for a moment before snarling and barking at me.

"Relax," I ordered, "girls freak me out so I couldn't stand being in Emily's house for a second more." Jacob glared at me like I was pure concentrated evil before howling and running away.

"And that's the big bad wolf," I told myself as I lay down in the fallen leaves. "He runs away from Little Red Riding Hood." I looked up through the cluster of trees and gazed at the hundreds of stars as I listened to the sound of several people running my way.

"Why aren't you inside?" asked Sam as the pack came up to me in human form. "We told you to go to Emily's."

"And I did," I said "I just didn't stay there. I already told Jacob that girls freak me out. You guys have really bad hearing for wolves." I closed my eyes and smiled at the silence that covered the section of the forest like a blanket.

"What are you talking about?" asked one of the boys that I had yet to learn the name of.

"Fine, let's play it your way. I'm Alaivera, you are." Without opening my eyes I held my hand out in his direction and he took it.

"Embry," said the boy and I moved my hand to the left where it was taken by another person.

"Seth"

"Quil"

"Paul"

"Jared"

"Leah," I opened one eye when I heard the female's voice but closed it again when I saw that she was glaring at me. At least the hate was mutual.

"Now that you know everyone," said Sam "it'd be in your best interest to tell us what the hell you're talking about." I laughed softly and reached into my pant pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to him.

"Hey Seth," I said tapping his leg with my foot. "Move three inches to the left you're blocking the moonlight." He quickly did as I asked and someone growled as if that was some kind of crime.

"How could you even tell?" asked Quil. "Your eyes are closed." No way! I hadn't realized that. I'm forever in the debt of a dog.

"I just can," I answered simply. "Done reading yet, Sam?" There wasn't a lot of information on that sheet of paper and he should have finished it up by now, even if he was a canine.

"Where did you get this?' asked Sam and I heard the rustling of paper as if he was shaking it back and forth. Quil should properly inform him of inability to see.

"Came to me in a dream," I answered honestly. "I wrote it down, and already checked in with the Cullens to confirm it. By the way, they hate me too." It's a personality thing, hardly anyone really likes me. I'd be bothered with that if I actually liked people.

"We don't hate you," said Jared. "Sure you're crazy if you believe in werewolves, but we can't hate you because of that." I was happy that they denied it; that made it even more fun for me.

"Whatever," I said standing up. "Give me that back." I took the paper from Sam's hands and started walking back to my house. "Talk to you guys later. Stay fury."

"That animal's still out there!" cried Seth and I waved my hand carelessly.

"It won't hurt me, I'm a cat person."


	4. The Retrieval

**Alaivera's Journal:**

_Thursday, February 23, 1918_

_Mom left today and never came back. She's gone Feral._

_

* * *

_

_Monday, Nov__ember 6, 1926_

_I'm alone. They've all abandoned me; dad, Jason, Kendal, Alex, Dylan, Tyler, Zach, Liam, Orrin, and Robin have all answered the call of the lion._

* * *

_Friday, May 24, 2010_

_I met him today, my soul mate. His name is Jacob Black and he's a dog._

_

* * *

_

"Jacob Black," I whispered to myself as I lay on the roof of my house, just staring up at the stars. "Tell me about Jacob Black." The request barely left my mouth before words started flying through my mind.

_Happy_

_Serious_

_Stubborn_

_Difficult_

_Friendly_

_Kind_

_Strong_

_Ferocious_

_Yours _

I didn't know how that happened, but whenever I met someone important and asked for information aloud, it was given to me in one way or another.

Whether it was by memories I never knew I had, images of the future, or as you just saw, words that that described their personality.

"You forgot one" I said aloud to whatever managed to put those thoughts in my head, since I knew it wasn't me. "Dog."

I remained on my roof for the rest of the night, only coming inside when the sun started to rise and annoy the living hell out of me.

"Good night world," I whispered as I curled up on a fabric covered platform in my room. I knew that no one was around to hear me or even care that I had spoken but it felt good to hear my own voice, it made me feel a little less alone.

I woke up the next evening to the annoying sound of someone knocking on my door. There really should be a law stating that crazy neighbors should be locked up in their houses until midnight.

"Who the hell is it?" I growled as I pulled open my front door to see Seth standing there, looking very uncomfortable. "Oh, it's you." I sighed as I leaned against the door jam. "What do you want?" Some of us have very important things to attend to. Like getting in an extra hour of sleep.

"Sam told Jacob to tell Quil to tell me to tell you that they want to talk to you." He said and flinched when I straightened up.

"What's it about?" I asked already knowing exactly what the conversation was going to be on.

"Don't be a smart ass," he snapped, "you already know what they want to say to you, so come on." He went from uncomfortable to just plain pissed off in less than a second and I thought he looked kind of cute with steam coming out of his ears.

"Fine, since you asked so nicely," I joked. "Let me just get my bag." I ducked back inside and took my black back pack off the hook by the door before following the wolf down my street.

"Let me get that," said Seth as he held out his hand for my bag. He looked a little guilty about his earlier outburst and since I'm such a kind person I decided to let him redeem himself.

"Alright, but it's heavy" I warned him and slung the pack off my back before handing it to him. He took it and gasped before giving me an "are you crazy?" look.

"What do you have in here?" He asked as he looped his arms through the straps. "Rocks?" Actually I did, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"No, my makeup." Seth stared at me for a few seconds as if he couldn't tell if I was joking or not. Don't you just hate it when your jokes go unappreciated?

"So where are we going?" I asked when the uncomfortable silence became too much for me to handle. We were currently walking through the forest and I knew that there weren't any houses on this side of the reservation.

"The beach," he said."There's a small alcove in the side of the cliff that Sam thinks that would be the perfect place to talk to you." I can honestly say that I felt kind of special when he told me that they actually put thought into where we would have this little meeting.

"Let me guess, there's only one entrance into this little area, right?" He nodded in response and I smiled. Some people are so predictable.

"Well then, let's don't keep them waiting," I said and started running toward the only cliff in the area.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were actually excited to face certain doom," said Seth as he fell into pace beside me.

"Kind of, I have things I have to do later and the sooner I get this done the better. Plus, I get enjoyment out of messing with people." I'm other deathly afraid of humans or trying to mess with them, there's no such thing as middle ground with me.

"You're a strange one Alai," he said and we ran in silence the rest of the way until we came to a huge cliff and saw everyone standing in circle. They must have remembered my aversion to women because Leah was nowhere to be found.

"Well hello boys," I said cheerfully once Seth and I came to a stop in front of them. "I heard you want to talk to me." No one said anything, almost as if they didn't have any idea of how to start the upcoming conversation.


	5. The Conversation

"When you have something to say, I'll be waiting." I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as the boys in front of me opened and closed their mouths several times like fish out of water.

"This is really uncomfortable" I told them and marched off into the small alcove that they were standing in front of. I had just entered the small cave-like opening when I had the feeling that someone was behind me.

"Wow, Jake," I said when I turned around to find his face only a few centimeters in front of mine. If I had sneezed our lips would have made contact. Weird image, I know. But it's the truth.

"I don't like you," he said venomously, but didn't back away from me which I thought was a little weird.

"Cool, but you can't fight an imprint Jakie boy," Now that caused him to turn a deep shade of red and storm out of the alcove as if death itself was on his heels. What I say?

"That boy has problems," I said to the other pack members that were staring at me as if I had grown a second head and started to talk to it.

"Speaking of problems," said Sam. "It seems we have one with you." Oh, if only I had a dollar for every time someone had said that to me. I'd buy Trump towers and put Donald out on the street, oh yes, the world would be right.

"How the hell do you know about us?" asked Embry. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off like the mongrel he was. "And don't you dare say it came to you in a dream because none of us are likely to believe that." Everyone nodded their approval of that statement and I should have felt like prey… but I didn't.

"The truth is," I started, deciding to just tell them so I could get out of here, "you're not the only werewolf pack in the world. I've seen them in every state and providence on this planet. So I had already known about shape shifters when I suddenly had a dream on the plane to Washington, about the wolves and vampires in this town. I don't care if you believe that or not, but it's the truth."

I watched as every one of those boys narrowed their eyes in my direction and growled as if I was intruding on their territory.

"What are you?" asked Quil and the others continued to growl at me. Why do people have a hard time believing that a human can actually know stuff?

"Don't ask stupid questions," I snapped. "You can tell I'm human just by smelling me." Even though I really wasn't a human, I smelt like one and that definitely came in handy. I took my bag from Seth who had been standing a few feet to my right without breaking eye-contact with the wolves. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's time I left." I didn't even have the chance to take a step before I pushed against the wall by a very angry looking Jacob Black. Didn't he storm off?

"You're not going anywhere." He seethed and I was forced to ask myself this question; _what did I do to him_?

"Fine, you have five minutes before I get really pissed and ow, you're hurting me." The last part was a total lie but I couldn't pass up the chance to see that look of shear horror that spread across his face.

"Sorry." He whispered and left once again. I could not and would not live with _that _for the rest of my life. Only one of us could be mentally unstable and I called dibbs.

"Just ask me whatever the hell you have to ask me before I take my anger out on random canines." I snapped when I realized that the pack was staring at me after Jacob's bi-polar episode.

"Why do you live alone?" asked Seth. "You're only like what-sixteen?" He was off by about a century and it felt good to know I didn't look as old as I felt some days.

"Emancipated," I answered simply. "Four minutes." My foot had a mind of its own and started tapping impatiently against the stone floor. I needed to get going if I wanted to be there in time.

"Why do you travel so much?" asked Jared and I knew he must have picked up on the not so subtle hints at my worldly knowledge.

"Looking for something I couldn't find." Please note that I said _couldn't_ not _can't._ "Three minutes."

"Why do the Cullen's hate you?" asked Paul. He had a look on his face that made me internally shudder. He'd try to kill me over anything, didn't mean he would, but he'd try.

"That's a three minute answer, even if it won't take that long to explain." I said smiling at the encounter that had taken place a few days prior to this little meeting. "The bloodsuckers hate me because I'm not afraid of them, they can't get to me by simply hissing in my direction. Vampires like to be feared, it's how they remain powerful, I took that away from them, so they hate me. Simple."

I smirked at the surprised faces all around me and started to walk past the pack when a hand wrapped around my arm.

"Why aren't you scared of them?" asked Sam and I smiled before ripping my arm away from his grasp, using more strength than I intended to, causing him to look at me strangely.

"That's a story for another day." I told the group and exited the dark cave opening before walking down the beach toward my destination. Suddenly I heard a scream of excitement and turned around just in time to see a large Native American boy plunge into the water.

"Dogs," I told myself as I continued to walk across the loose sand. "Never let them off their leash."


	6. The Mouse

[Jacob]

"Get out of the water!" yelled Sam as he and the other pack members walked out of the cave to find Jacob bobbing in the ocean a few yards off shore.

"Make me!" Jacob answered but started to swim back toward the beach, telling himself that the salt water was starting to mess up his hair and that was why he was getting out. Though he knew very well that it wasn't the case.

"What in the world were you thinking?" asked Embry as Jake started to squeeze the water out of his t-shirt. "That's your imprint; you're supposed to be at least in there when we start interrogating her." A shiver went down Jacob's spine when he heard the word imprint and sadly, everyone noticed.

"She's right about the fact you can't fight it," said Paul. "Like it or not, you're going to have to spend time with her." The wet teenager wanted to scream and pull his hair out in frustration when he realized his friend was right.

"I don't like her," he hissed and the scratchy feeling in his throat caused by the salt water made it sound even more threatening.

"And why not?" asked Jared. "Just because she's not Bella doesn't mean you'll love her any less. Plus she already knows about us, you won't have to worry about her running away screaming when you suddenly shift and run off into the woods; but you'd have to at least give her chance no matter what, she's like your soul mate." Jacob groaned at the fact his pack didn't feel the way he did and flopped down onto the sand before covering his eyes with his arm.

"It's not because she's not Bella, it's because there's something strange about her." His friends, knowing Jacob wasn't anywhere near finished with his belly aching sat down around him and waited for their friend to continue.

"She smells weird," he said simply and when no one immediately agreed with him and just stared at him like he was crazy, Jake was forced to continue. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed the fact that she doesn't smell completely human."

"Sure, she may hang out with one too many cats but I don't see why that would get you so worked up." said Sam, "the odor's faint and barely there at all. So she's a cat person, is that so bad?" For the normal person it wouldn't have been but Jacob hated cats, there was just something about them, like they knew more than any creature should, that just freaked him out.

"I guess not," he admitted, "but it's not just that. Who in their right mind isn't afraid of vampires?" he asked, remembering the conversation he had overheard earlier. "Hell, I kill the sons of bitches but if I see one in the woods while I'm alone there's a very real possibility that I'm going to scream like a girl and run away."

"Well, Alai said that she's met a lot of werewolves, maybe she's come across a few vampire covens as well." Suggested Seth and everyone turned to him with questioning expressions.

"Since when have you called the psycho 'Alai'?" Asked Jake, if anyone had said so he would have denied it, but he felt slightly jealous of the apparent relationship Seth and _**his**_ imprint had. He wasn't stupid enough to think that it was anything more than friendship but that was more than he had and it didn't sit well with the shape shifter.

"Um... since I picked her up at her house," said Seth and flinched away from the death glare Jacob was sending his way. "There's something about her whenever you talk to her alone, she's actually really likable and only turns into a bitch when she's out numbered." Everyone in the pack was without a doubt thinking the same thing.

That was more than just strange behavior, very _animalistic _behavior.

"See?" yelled Jacob in triumph. "She's weird, strange, and incredibly freaky." No one had the heart to tell him that he was acting the same way but they definitely filed away the memory in order to use as possible black mail at a later time.

"Jake, it doesn't matter what she is," said Quil when he spoke up for the first time. "She's your imprint and you have to be something, whether that be friends, lovers, even enemies, the last thing you can do is ignore her." The way he said that was almost as if he was pleading for his friend to understand what he was talking about and to actually take his advice.

"I don't feel comfortable when she's around." Jake said honestly. For the first time letting his real feelings on the subject come out. "Whenever she's near me, I have the overwhelming feeling that something is waiting in the bushes about to attack me. It's like how I imagine a mouse feels right before it becomes a cat's dinner. I don't like that feeling." Jake knew by the looks on his pack's faces that they didn't feel the same way; that they didn't understand the need he had to run away from Alaivera and that hurt more than anything he could ever imagine.

It was like he was truly alone for the first time in his life.

"We don't feel it," said Sam, confirming what he already knew. "But let's just use the rest of summer vacation to see if that feeling changes. Maybe you're mistaking it for guilt, maybe you feel like you're cheating on Bella by being around your imprint. Just spend some time with her, maybe you'll feel differently." Jacob nodded silently but already knew this was going to end very badly.


	7. The Ritual

[Alaivera]

The bag that was hanging from one shoulder seemed to grow lighter as I neared the clearing I had seen yesterday and I took that as a good sign since this would be the first time I had done this with dogs so close by.

"You have to do it," I thought to myself. "If they want to find you then it wouldn't matter where you were on the preserve, they would. These wolves wouldn't be the first pack to find out about you, just relax." That little internal monologue managed to make me feel a thousand times better and I confidently walked into the clearing.

I immediately looked up and saw that the bright, full, moon was directly overhead and sighed at the beauty of it. I could have stood there and simply stared up at the sky but I had more important things to do.

With a shrug of my shoulder, the strap of my bag fell into my hand and I sat it down on the ground before kneeling down next to it. I took in a gulp of air and slid the zipper along it's track until it hit the other side, this revealed a hundred perfectly rounded rocks, a stone slab, and two violet candles. This may have been why Seth said it was heavy.

I willed my hands not to shake as I removed the two candles and placed them on the ground before laying the slab between them. It wasn't too late to just go back home and take my chances until next month and part of my mind wanted to do just that, while the more rational part told me that at my age, it was too big of a risk.

The rocks spilled out onto the ground as I turned the bag upside down and shook it a couple of times to make sure each one landed in the pile. I quickly grabbed a few and started to place them in their correct spots, stopping to pick up more whenever I ran out.

Five minutes later I found myself standing in a perfect circle and knelled down in front of the candles and the stone before taking a lighter out of my pocket and setting the wicks of both candles on fire.

"You can still back out, Alaivera," the cat part of my mind told me. It's main agenda was to stay hidden and I heard from it whenever I put my secret in danger, which was exactly what I was doing.

I knew I could, but there was no way in hell I would. With a deep breath and a word of warning from my second half I started what needed to be done.

"EGO adeo vos in is sanctus nox noctis honoro vos dea of cattus," as I said this the flames of the candles grew so bright, it was technically impossible for them to be so. Alerting me to the fact that I had crossed the point of no return.

"Vos sino mihi futurus a secui of utrusque universitas quad EGO vadum existo in vestri debitum," the wind started to pick up outside the circle but I felt none of it inside the rock border.

"EGO tribuo vobis substantia plurimus necessarius pro vita. Cruor," my hands shook as I opened the small pocket in my bag and pulled out a small, silver, razor. It gleamed in the light from the candles, giving the piece of metal a terrifying look that made my chest tighten painfully.

I took a deep breath, knowing that there was no way I would be able to breathe once that blade made contact with my skin, and placed the corner of the razor against my palm before pushing down with just enough force to break my skin and cause a thick drop of ruby red blood to rise to the surface. I wanted to scream and throw the sharp object down on the ground due to my inability to deal with pain, but forced myself to stay silent and drag the razor across my palm.

While my hand was still bleeding freely I placed it on the stone slab in front of me and watched as it immediately started to glow as if someone had flipped on a light switch. My hand stopped bleeding after only a few seconds I removed it in order to watch as the wound closed together and left nothing but perfect skin in its wake.

The stone continued to glow as I continued on, "EGO deprecor vos ut tribuo mihi imperium pro tunc mensis, insquequo tunc plenus luna." The entire clearing except the small circle I was kneeling in grew darker, making the moonlight shinning down on me incredibly concentrated and I felt amazingly powerful before every ounce of energy I had was suddenly sucked out of me when the clearing lit up once again.

Knowing that my wish for another month with my human side was granted I fell back and stared up at the stars in contentment. Nothing could ruin this for me. Just as I was about to fall asleep under the protection of the moon, I heard the unmistakable sound of several large animals walking through the forest.

"Damn," I hissed and sat up, grabbing my bag in the process and packing up the suspicious items. The candles, the blood covered stone, and even a few of the rocks that shouldn't have been in that area; you never knew who's a geologist in disguise.

I had just slung my bag over my shoulder when a pack of huge wolves walked out of the tree cover. The black wolf that I knew was Sam moved a few feet in front of the others and gave a short, high pitched bark that bordered on a yelp.

"Sam, I don't speak mutt." I answered and was rewarded with a deep, throaty, growl from Paul.

"What the hell has your panties in a twist?" I asked sarcastically. "You and I both know that no one in your pack is a pure breed." I had seen a lot of wolves launch themselves at an enemy out of anger, but I didn't even think it was possible to see a whole pack try to stop one member and fail.

Paul came running in my direction and there was no mistaking that need to kill that I saw in his eyes. I had about a half of a second to think of a way to get out of this alive without revealing my cat side and once the thought passed through my mind I dropped my bag and waited for the mongrel to attack.

I didn't have to wait long before he lunged at me and I had to be very careful in the way I evaded him to make it look human. Paul turned to face me again the moment his paws touched the ground I grabbed his left ear before he could attack. A little known fact about werewolves is that their most vulnerable area is their ears, both in wolf form and human form.

The canine let out a whine of pain as I twisted his ear before knocking my shoulder into his upper leg and causing him to fall onto his side. Without a moment of hesitation I restrained the wiggling animal with another sharp twist to his ear before leaning down and sinking my teeth into the soft flesh of his neck and standing up, giving him a solid kick to the ribs just as the others came over to make sure their friend was okay.

"What the hell was that?" asked Embry as he held up a pair of pants to a very human and very naked Paul.

"Why are you yelling at me?" I asked genuinely confused as to why I was at fault here. "He's the one that attacked me, I was just defending myself." As if they had just remembered, everyone turned to Paul, who was making it a point not to look me in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and by the reactions of everyone around me, I didn't think he did that very often.

"It's not your fault, Paul," said Jacob as he turned to face me and poked me in the chest with his index finger. "You shouldn't be out while that animal's running around, you shouldn't have antagonized him, this is _your _fault." He was glaring at me and I thought it would have been more intimidating if I was a foot shorter than him instead of a couple inches.

"First!" I yelled in his face as I knocked his hand away from me, "you're not my father. If I want to be out here then I can be. Second, no one else attacked me, Paul should learn to control himself. Lastly, if it's anyone's fault then it's the entire pack's. You all couldn't even stop him, if I hadn't known his weaknesses and had been a normal girl, he could have killed me." Jake, along with the other wolves all looked at me with a question written clearly on their foreheads.

"Don't bother asking," I hissed as I scooped up my bag, "I'm not telling you how I knew to do that." I started to walk away but stopped after a few feet.

"Paul?" I asked without turning around.

"Yes ma'am?" he answered. That, people, is why you bite the throat, it shows dominance.

"Nothing," I laughed and continued walking, feeling their eyes on me with every step I took.

"Alaivera!" Called Sam just as I was about to walk into the forest.

"What?" I asked and clenched my hand into a fist. I was too tired to stay here with dogs that didn't know the difference between night and day. All I wanted was a bed and I was dead set on finding one.

"A human wouldn't have heard that," even though I couldn't see him, I knew the Alpha had to be smirking at my back. "We'll be at Jake's tomorrow, come by if you want to explain that to us." Damn, there was no way I was sleeping today. I had to come up with a reasonable explanation for that and I knew very well that there weren't many.


	8. The Memories

"Hey Jared!" I called as I stepped out of my house at noon the next day to see the werewolf walking down my street.

"What do you want?" he seethed but stopped anyway and waited for me to run up to him. The sun was beating down on me and I could practically feel every cell in my body as it rejected the light, to say I was uncomfortable would be an understatement but some times you have to deal with things that you're not exactly comfortable with. This would be one of those times.

"You're going to Jake's, right?" I asked and followed him as he walked away without answering. "Answer me, Jared. Don't make me smack you." He slowly turned his head in my direction and I smiled at the look on his face.

"Yes, I'm going to Jacob's house," he said slowly and groaned when I caught up to him. "Why do you care?" Jared started to walk a little faster and rolled his eyes when I matched his speed, stride for stride.

"I was heading that way myself, I distinctly remember Sam telling me that the pack would be there today and figured I'd explain what happened in the clearing." I said and he scoffed before starting to jog down the street, since I wasn't done with this conversation, I did the same.

"That was pretty ingenious of him," said Jared as we turned down another road and slowly started to speed up until we were sprinting toward an unknown destination. "He didn't think a human would be able to take on Paul and just decided to test his theory without even telling us first." Jared's eyes widened when he realized I was actually keeping up with him and wasn't showing any signs of tiring.

"Yeah, not bad for a dog," I agreed. "If there's one thing a canine is good at it's doing something rash and unexpected. That's also what gets them killed, I'd keep an eye on that one if I were you." The boy turned his head away when he realized that his lips had curled into a smile and I shook my head in amusement at the shocked look on his face.

"Seth was right about you," he said without looking at me. "You don't have that bitchy air about you whenever someone talks to you one-on-one." I had never heard someone word my personality change quite like that and strangely, I liked the sound of it.

"I'm just unique like that," I said jokingly. "I feel it's important to make friends one at a time. Though I wouldn't call Seth a friend, he's more like another brother." Jared opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Don't ask until we meet up with the others, I don't want to have to repeat the answer." There must have been something in my eyes that bothered him because Jared didn't speak for the rest of the trip to a small white house on the edge of the preserve.

"Here it is," he said once we stopped in front of it. "Prepare to meet your doom." Well at least he warned me, I've been put in near death situations before where the end result would have been a lot cleaner if someone had warned me ahead of time.

"You'll save me though, won't you Jared?" I asked and gave him my best lost kitten expression that was nearly impossible to deny.

"I'll cut the ropes holding you to the tracks but it's up to you to run away before the train comes." He said and smiled before opening the door and gesturing for me to enter first. I nodded once and careful walked into the house, taking careful observations of every nook and cranny that my eyes landed on.

"Boys, Leah!" He called and at the sound of the female's name I immediately turned and tried to get out of the house. Sadly, Jared grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around to face the group that had gathered in the small hallway. I could have ripped his arms out of their sockets and escaped but that didn't seem like a good idea with all these witnesses.

"Leah, go wait outside," said Sam and motioned toward the back of the building where there must have been some kind of back door.

"Fine," she growled and I was tempted to hiss at her but once again thought that wasn't the best of ideas. Leah walked away and I visibly relaxed even though I was practically trapped in the narrow room.

"Didn't think you'd show," said Quil with a not-so-happy smirk on his face. "Are you going to attack the rest of us or are you going to to tell us what you are, what you're doing here, and why you're so goddamn strange, so we don't have to keep having these nice little conversations?" I didn't answer and instead turned my head so only Jared could hear me and whispered to him.

"Is it his time of the month? I thought Jacob was the temperamental one." His hand immediately flew to his mouth but it did nothing to cover his laughter. At the strange looks that we received I groaned and gave them the answer they wanted. "I'm here to talk."

"Good," said Embry. "Come on in and let's get this party started." He bobbed his head back and forth before leaving the room and I can honestly say I was a little hesitant to follow the boys farther into the unknown house.

"Don't worry," said Jared as he pushed me forward and forced me to walked into the living room. "I'll cut the ropes." I smiled and bit the corner of my lip before sitting down next to Seth on the sofa, I was pleasantly surprised to see Jared sit in the other free spot to my right.

"So how's this going to work?" I asked when the room remained so silent that I could literally feel it eating away at me. "We tried the question and answer thing but you didn't ask the right questions; we tried me telling you the whole story but I lied; you know we could always turn this into a cool drinking game and everyone cou-"

"Shut up," hissed Jacob and due to the lack of moon light in the after noon I did as I was instructed. "You're going to sit there and tell us exactly what you are and how you managed to find yourself in La Push. If anyone feels there's a hole missing in your story then we'll ask and you better give us an honest answer because I know I'm personally all for killing you." As if out of instinct both Seth and Jared wrapped their arms around me and pulled me back into the couch.

"We won't kill you," said Sam and he gave Jacob a pointed look before continuing. "But we'll smell it if you lie and after we're done with you, you'll wish you were dead." Well that was my cue to start talking if I wanted to keep my head facing forward.

"Okay," I said and flinched at the death glares that were sent my way. "Um... you're right about me not being completely human, my grandfather was a shape shifter, a werewolf, whatever. It's supposed to skip a generation but I didn't get the shifter part, just the heightened senses part. I came to La Push because it was small town, it seemed pretty laid back and I'd never been to Washington before, so I figured it was the perfect place to go." Do you see how well I lie? It's like second nature to me and they can't even smell it.

"Wait," said Paul. He didn't look at me and kept his gaze on the floor. "You said you were emancipated, people with wolf blood would never let their cubs leave home before eighteen." Damn, this part was too emotional for me and if I tried a flat out lie I would never get away with it, so I had to keep it as close to the truth as possible.

"My mom died when I was three," okay so I was twenty-five, I tweaked it. "Dad two years ago, they really didn't have a say in it." Using my hearing and eye sight I knew that almost everyone in the room felt guilty for bringing it up, except Jacob who thought I deserved it.

"You mentioned brothers," said Jared, "Why aren't they with you?" My big mouth got me in a lot of trouble, but this would probably be the first time it would make me cry in front of people I hardly knew.

"I had nine older brothers Jason was the oldest, he was eighteen years older than me. My closest brother was Robin, he was two minutes older and I swear he knew me better than I knew myself. They all loved to hunt and one day they decided they'd go to Africa and hunt some big game. I never saw them again, the only thing of theirs I got back was Alex's passport." Traitor tears fell from my eyes even though it wasn't the full truth it was close enough and Seth hugged me against his body.

"That good enough for you?" I asked and wiped the beads of salt water from my face.

"No, why-" Jacob started but was cut off by an angry looking Sam.

"Jacob," he snapped. "That's enough for now. Go get her some water." My imprint growled before standing up and marching out of the room. I still didn't know why he hated me and I was beginning to think I never would.

"You had a twin?" asked Embry, his tone was much softer and I swear it was filled with guilt. "What was that like?" Sam turned to him and glared daggers at the side of his head but Embry didn't seem to notice.

"It's okay Sam," I said, "Embry, it was amazing. Imagine always having a friend that would never judge you, never stab you in the back, and laugh at all your jokes no matter how pathetic they were." Everyone was looking at me and even Paul looked up from the carpet in order to watch as I continued.

"He was my other half, my better half actually. Robin brought out the bubbly, happy, cheerful Alaivera that most people never saw. Losing him was what I imagine rejection from your imprint feels like, I knew the moment he died, I felt it in my heart, in my soul, it was like I was ripped in two." I didn't cry this time and I was thankful for that when Jacob walked in and shoved a bottle of water into my hand.

"Jake you're being a dick," said Paul. "Do you even feel a little sorry for bringing up hurtful memories in the girl that's supposed to be your soul mate?" Jake looked right into my eyes when he answered and that just made it hurt even more.

"No"


	9. The Storm

"It's raining!" screeched Leah as she stormed into the living room, not caring that she was dripping water on the carpet. "I don't care what the hell your problem is but I'm staying inside." She just glared at me before plopping down on the couch next to Jake and resting her feet on the coffee table.

"Well that was random," I said looking around the room for some support on the subject and finding none.

"Do you have to put your two sense into everything," hissed the female wolf. Now come on, I'm trying to be nice... ish. I hadn't ran away or clawed her face off yet and what do I get in return? Absolutely nothing.

"Yeah, I do." I answered, "it's a personality flaw. I have a lot of those." She rolled her eyes and leaned into Jacob who didn't push her away. Now that pissed me off, Leah and I were apparently both bitches, but I'm prettier, he should like me, or at least not want to rip my me to shreds.

"Leah, is there a reason why you're here?" asked Sam as he started to massage his temples. "Because I don't remember telling you it was okay to come back in." I had to bit my lip to keep from laughing when Leah's jaw dropped and her face turned a deep shade of red. Of course I was the only one that thought this was amusing so Seth turned and stared at me strangely as I slowly collected myself.

"I already told you," said Leah oblivious to my amusement concerning this situation. "It's raining," she straightened up and stared at Sam as if he was crazy. Trust me, I know that look.

"Okay, and?" he asked. "Why are you here?" There was no way in hell I saw that coming and my respect level for the black wolf raised several points.

"Sam!" she cried. "You don't honestly expect me to stay outside in this storm do you?" As if on cue a flash of lightning lit up the room and I mentally kicked myself for the pang of sympathy I felt for the girl.

"Yes, I do," said Sam. The duo stared at each other from across the room and you could literally feel the tension in that air.

"Um... I'm going to make lunch for everybody." Said Quil and he dashed out of the room before anyone had the chance to say anything.

"Sam," I said cautiously since I really didn't want to get into a fight today. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but... let her stay." Everyone turned to me, even Jake seemed confused by my kindness.

"Why?" asked Embry, and he ignored Sam's look of disapproval. I could have said that I felt sorry for the girl, or that I didn't want to be on the receiving end of her anger right now, and maybe even said that she was starting to grow on me in the last five seconds I had spent with her, but no, I had to go with the cowardly way out.

"QUIL!" I screamed as I ran out of the room. "Don't burn anything I'm coming to help you!" I slid to a stop outside of the kitchen doorway but somehow managed to trip over my own foot and fall sideways onto the linoleum flooring.

"Are you okay?" asked Quil as he walked out of the kitchen and helped me back to my feet. "This is why you don't run indoors." I was led into the room he had just come out of and forced to sit on a hard wooden chair.

"I'm fine, dad," I whined. "God, why are you so protective?" That boy had the nerve to slap me upside the head and walk away.

"Don't be a smart ass," he ordered. Why does everyone say that? First Seth now Quil, well at least they admit I'm smart. "If you're going to help then come over here and assist me." I rolled my eyes I walked over to see what the dog had decided to make and was insanely relieved to see that it wasn't kibble.

"Hamburgers and hotdogs," I said peering over his shoulder. "That's so normal." Quil somehow managed to give me an obscene hand gesture while forming hamburger patties but he didn't say anything as a pot of water on the stove came to a boil and he dumped about twenty hotdogs into it.

"What did you expect?" he asked a little later and I was confused for a few minutes before remembering what I had said earlier.

"I don't know," I answered honestly as I placed a completed patty on a paper plate. "I know other shape shifters eat regular food, but you all seem more... canine than most."

"Seth was right," he said out of the blue. That sentence reminded me of something Jared had said earlier.

"You mean how I don't seem like a bitch whenever you talk to me one-on-one?" I asked quoting what I had heard on my walk over here.

"Yeah, it's really weird. I could easily say I didn't like you ten minutes ago but now it seems impossible to think of you as anything less than a friend." He looked over at me and I could see the honesty in his chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm a charming person," I explained, "I've only known you guys for what? A day and a half? And I already have three of you on my side. I give it month before Jacob is telling me he loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me and never wants to leave my sight. " He scoffed as I walked around him and started to grill the mountain of burgers.

"What?" I asked. "Leave him in a room with me for an hour and he'll be my boy toy before you know it." There was a chuckle from the other side of the house and I knew it had to come from Embry. No one else would have thought it was _that _funny.

"STOP LISTENING IN ON CONVERSATIONS THAT DON'T CONCERN YOU!" I yelled and the chuckling immediately stopped just to be replaced by howling laughter.

"I think you're underestimating Jake's ability to be a jerk," he said knowing that I could hear him and not needing to scream like I had. There was a loud slap and I knew Jacob didn't appreciate the boy's statement.

"Anyway," I said turning back to Quil. "What you were talking about happens alot. Some people can't help but love me while others want nothing more than to see me six feet under. There's no middle ground really," I flipped the burgers on the stove top grill and the dog just stared at the side of my head.

"Interesting," he said as if there was something else on his mind, "but enough about your strange personality. What do you like to do for fun?" I watched as he walked over to the table and sat down in the chair that he had placed me in earlier.

"I like to climb," I told him honestly. "Trees, mountains, buildings, it really doesn't matter as long as it's something tall." Without thinking about it I started to place all the hotdogs and hamburgers on buns and laughed when I realized how much food we had. We could have fed a small army and still have food left to give to the homeless shelter. "You?"

"Swimming," he said and moved the large platters of food off the counter before placing them on the kitchen table and retrieving several bags of chips and paper plates from the cabinet. "Favorite Color? Mine's blue."

"Black," I answered and when he gave me a strange look I continued to explain. "It's the color of the night and the moon raises in the night." I thought he would have asked about that but he merely shrugged and continued to help me get everything ready. "If you could have anything in the world what would it be?" If you ever want to know someone then ask that question because it says a lot about a person.

"My imprint," he said and I was tempted to scream "awe" at the top of my lungs and hug him. Thankfully I have some self control and spared myself that humiliation.

"You're such a romantic," I gushed and picked up the platters of food and waited for Quil to get everything else so we could serve the ungrateful group that was still in the living room doing only god knows what. "You see, I would have said my own country because I hate to follow rules." I had just finished that sentence as we walked into the living room and I sat the food down on the coffee table before retaking my seat next to Seth and Jared.

The smile that spread across my face when Quil sat down in the chair next to the sofa literally went from one ear to the other. Three down, five to go.

"So is this poisoned?" asked Jake as he eyed the food suspiciously.

"Of course!" I said as if it was crazy that he would even ask such a question. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't try to kill you along with everyone else in this room?"

"A normal one?" asked Leah.

"Exactly" I answered and took a hotdog from the pile before shoving half of it in my mouth and smiling like an idiot.


	10. The Game

"Okay," said Paul after everyone decided to dig into the pile of food on the table. "Who wants to play truth or dare?" I was just about to place a chip in my mouth but stopped when I heard that, something was wrong with this picture.

"Paul," I said condescendingly, "that's a girl's game." I may not like females but I do know one little piece of information about them. They like truth or dare.

"Not the way we play it," said Quil. "Sam, you go first." The fact we were eating apparently didn't damper anyone's excitement because even Jake seemed happy to be playing this.

"Wait a second," I said. "How is your version not like a girl's version?" I didn't want to end up naked on the street corner just because these boys have a weird sense of humor.

"If you pick truth you must answer a sexual question honestly and if you pick dare then nothing is off limits." Said Embry, I hesitated a moment and really thought about whether or not I wanted to play, this could end very badly.

"Well this can't possibly be a bad idea," I said sarcastically. "Count me in." I wiped my hands on a napkin and leaned back against Jared's arm in order to get a better view of the room.

"Alright then," Said Sam, "Embry, truth or dare?" I was honestly surprised that he didn't ask me first but Embry's answer was completely expected.

"Dare, dude; lay it on me, I can take it." I watched with avid fascination as Sam's eyes lit up and he smiled as if he were three on Christmas morning.

"I dare you to give Leah a lap dance," my eyes widened but nobody else seemed to think this was strange. Another indicator that dogs are weird.

"Sam, you're getting soft, dude." Embry laughed as he got up and walked over to Leah. "Before you met Emily you would have dared to me to strip and sing 'Born to be Wild' at the top of my lungs." By the time he finished speaking Embry was straddling a distressed looking Leah and moving to the beat Jacob was providing.

"Okay, Em you better stop. Alai's virgin eyes are starting to burn." Joked Jared and Embry immediately stopped and gave a dramatic sigh before standing up.

"I was just getting into it too," he complained but a relieved look on his face took away from his statement. "Anyway..." his eyes scanned over every person in the room until they stopped on Seth who groaned and hit his head against the wall.

"Seth, truth or dare?" Embry looked as if he enjoyed torturing poor little Seth and that just rubbed me the wrong way.

"Truth," whined the young dog from beside me. "I'm never picking dare again." I wouldn't either if I had just watched my simpling get a lap dance by a weird looking mutt.

"Alright, are you a virgin?" asked Embry and the boys in the room scoffed and tried to hide their laughter, while Leah and I had a bonding moment when we both rolled our eyes at the immature behavior around us.

"I'm thirteen!" cried Seth. "And I'm not Paul, so yeah, I'm a virgin." I looked over at Paul to see that he had a huge smile on his face and figured there was a back story to Seth's answer that was completely unknown to me.

"You're boring," said Jake. "I bet you eat all your vegetables too, don't you?" Apparently being a good person is classified as boring now, there is no justice in this world.

"Yep," said Seth, "all of them except okra," he visibly shuddered before continuing. "I hate okra." Even I joined in when everyone started laughing again. The young boy's face was just too amusing not to.

"Just go," said Sam after he had calmed down enough to talk.

The youngest looked around the room and I cringed when his eyes grazed over me but thanked the goddess that he decided to pick Paul instead.

"Dare," sighed the wolf in the corner before Seth had a chance to ask. "Just remember pay back's a bitch." The kid beside me just smiled evilly and shrugged in a way that made me think of a pit-bull puppy right before it takes your arm off.

"Fine, I dare you to comment on everybody in here, while acting like a drag queen." I didn't know how Seth came up with that but I gave him a round of applause for his creativeness.

"Thank you, thank you, I am amazing." Seth stood up and bowed to his clapping audience with consisted of... me.

"Amazingly annoying," grumbled Paul as he walked to the middle of the room and immediately placed one hand on his hip and put his other over his face before sighing and turning to Leah and Jake.

"Leah, girl, it's called a hair brush; get one," I started laughing so hard that I had to lean into Jared to keep from falling off the sofa. "Jacob, what is up with that nose? You can spot that thing from space." Paul swiveled his head in a circular motion and my breath started coming in gasps with the force of my laughter. To make things even worse, I seemed to be the only one who was having this reaction.

"Quil, change your name. You do not live on a porcupine's ass." That comment from Paul took some thinking in order to understand but once I got it, tears started streaming down my face due to my inability to stop laughing. "Jared, you're supposed to have _two _eyebrows. Not one." Jared's hand immediately went to his brow and started feeling around for the gap between the two strips of hair. "Alaivera, what are you a plant? Because your name sounds a hell of a lot like aloe Vera."

I should have been insulted but I couldn't stop laughing long enough to care.

"Seth, cubs aren't supposed to speak out of line, so keep your mouth shut." said Paul. That earned him an evil glare from Seth and another round of howling laughter from me. "Sam, one word darling, psychiatrist. And Embry, I can honestly guarantee you're going to college, Clown college." With a loud sigh Paul sat down and after I realized that everyone was staring at me, I took a calming breath and managed to stop laughing long enough to hear this.

"Alai," said Paul. "Truth or dare?" Damn, I knew my turn was coming up soon but I hadn't managed to think about which option would be worse. Without really knowing what was about to happen or if I was about to make a really big mistake I answered him.

"Truth," I said. "I doubt there's anything you can ask that would embarrass me." That was completely true and he must have known that because from the look on Paul face, he was thinking insanely hard about the perfect question.

"Have you ever had a three-way?" My jaw literally touched the floor, that wasn't anything like I expected.

"That's none of your business!" I yelled. There was only so much personal information I could give out and that definitely crossed the line.

"You have to answer it," said Embry with an evil grin on his face. "You knew he had a weird mind before you picked truth, so give us an answer." Everyone was staring at me and I bit my lip as I thought about whether or not they could tell if I lied. Normally I would be able to get away with it but since every wolf in that room was anticipating the lie I knew my chances of getting out of this without telling him the truth was near impossible.

"What kind?" I asked and smiled at the confused look on Paul's face.

"What kind of what?" He asked, his eyebrows creating a "V" shape above is eyes.

"What kind of three-way? Me with two guys, me with a girl and a boy, or me with two girls?" I smiled cheekily and waited as Paul rolled his tongue around in his mouth as he digested what I had asked.

"Doesn't matter," He finally answered and I hit my head against the wall behind me in frustration, he was supposed to pick one and hopefully I could say "no."

"Yeah," I whispered and covered my eyes to keep from seeing their reactions. And before you ask, let me just tell you that you don't live for 117 years without being a little experimental in the sex department.

"Seriously?" asked Seth as he peeled my hands away from my face. I simply nodded and pulled my hands away from him in order to cover my eyes again.

"If I didn't respect you before then I sure as hell do now!" Exclaimed Quil from my right, "don't be embarrassed," he added."That is awesome." I peaked at the room from between my fingers and finding that my answer hadn't thrown us into a parallel universe, I removed my hands completely.

"I guess it's my turn to ask now," everyone nodded and my gaze immediately went to Jake who suddenly became several shades paler, "Truth or dare?" I asked.

"Truth," he groaned. "I don't trust you to dare me to do anything." That was probably a good idea on his part; I can be insanely evil when I want to be.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" I fluttered my eyelashes and just barely managed to keep a straight face.

"That question isn't allowed," said Jake. "Pick another." He practically growled the last part and I found this incredibly amusing. It's fun to mess with people when you know the right buttons to push.

"Fine, _sexually _speaking, do you think I'm pretty?" He couldn't get out of that one there was no doubt in my mind that he knew that.

"Yes," he mumbled and even though I heard him I had to make him suffer.

"What was that?" I asked and tilted my head to the side before leaning in so I could hear him more clearly.

"Yes! I think you're pretty," he practically yelled and I leaned back and smiled.

"Someone write this down," I ordered even though I knew no one was going to do it. "Part one of Alaivera's plan to make Jacob Black realize she's his imprint and he can't fight it, is complete."


	11. The Dare

[Jacob]

Jacob didn't know why he had said that. He had opened his mouth to tell Alaivera he didn't think she was very pretty, but when he looked into her crystal blue eyes, he could practically feel his heart stop before starting again. So he said it, gave her the answer she wanted and boy did she look smug sitting there smirking at him. Even though it'd been a half an hour and she had answered four other questions that Jake really didn't want to know the answers to.

"Alright Al," said Leah with a sly smile on her face. Something strange had happened in the short time they had been sitting there; Leah actually started warming up to the girl who seemed to make it her mission to annoy everyone. "Truth or dare?"

"Last one," said the blonde and smiled sweetly to Embry. "I have to go, but I think Em would just love to walk me home." The boy squirmed under her gaze before groaning and agreeing to do whatever she wanted. Jake had never seen someone with so much power.

"Dare," Alaivera as if she had just remembered that she had forgotten to give Leah an answer. "That last question was uncalled for," the girl glared at Sam from the corner of her eye but he simply shrugged at her expression.

Everyone had been trying to get as much information from the strange girl as they could and had started asking her questions that weren't even remotely sexual and just rewording them so they fit within the guidelines. Sam, for instance, wanted to find out how many languages Alai spoke but instead of asking her flat out, he asked. "In how many languages can you say 'harder'?" That had made the blonde turn a deep shade of red and stare open mouthed as if she couldn't believe he would say such a thing.

But eventually she admitted that she could say the selected word in eight languages, and was fluent in six of them.

"Cool, I dare you to-" the female wolf looked around the room as if she couldn't come up with an idea before her eyes locked on Jacob. He just knew this wasn't going to end well. "Kiss Jake." Alai's eyes widened and Jacob knew his weren't much smaller.

"What?" asked the blonde with an almost pleading tone in her voice. "Why?" He didn't know why, but Alaivera's reluctance to kiss him, made Jake feel strangely disappointed.

"Well, I think it would be extremely entertaining." Explained Leah with an amused smirk on her face. "Now, what are you waiting for? Get to it." She motioned for the two of them to continue and Alai immediately frowned as if she were thinking about something.

"This really isn't a good idea," she whispered just loud enough for the room to hear her; all the while with her blue eyes firmly locked onto Jacob which freaked him out on a number of levels.

"And why not?" asked Paul, "it's just a kiss, nothing life shattering. Especially with your track record." Everyone tried to keep their laughter to themselves, or at least Jake did, but unfortunately it couldn't be contained.

"Fine!" she huffed and quickly stood up before striding toward Jacob like a girl on a mission. Alai stood next to the sofa that Jake was sitting on and just stared at the boy in a way that made him itch to run and hide. Something must have alerted the girl about her creepy staring episode because she suddenly leaned down as if to kiss the wolf before stopping and spinning around so fast, Jacob didn't even think a vampire would have been able to see her do it.

"I can't," Alai's voice cracked by the end of her sentence and Jake found himself reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder before she shrugged it off and made a strange hissing sound that was unlike anything he had ever heard before. "Don't you dare touch me," she seethed and ran out of the room with her hand over her eyes as if to shield out the sun on a bright day.

"What the hell did you do?" asked Seth. He was staring at the door as if it was taking every last ounce of his strength to keep from chasing after Alai.

"Nothing," promised Jacob. As he said that he was going over everything that had happened in order to find out what had gone wrong.

"Well, I'm going to find her," Embry announced as he stood up and brushed off the non-existent dust on his jeans. "She did say she wanted me to walk her home," the boy was gone before anyone could argue or offer to come with him and it was weird how much that really pissed Jake off.

[Alaivera]

I ran from that house at speeds I didn't even know were possible, this was made even more dangerous by the fact my eyes were constantly shifting from feline to human and back again.

[i] "This is all Jacob's fault,"[/i] I thought irritably when I came just inches from hitting a large pine tree. [i] "He just had to smell so good,"[/i] in all fairness, I didn't have a clue what would have happened if I had gone through with the kiss, but I had the strange feeling that it wouldn't be a feline free experience. Just being close to that wolf caused me to lose control of my other side and I knew it was only my anger (a very human emotion) that was keeping me from going full blown cougar right here in the middle of the forest.

"Alai, wait!" Embry's voice met my ears and my feet immediately sped up in order to propel me even faster through the dense trees. "Don't run, please!" He was closer and in the back of my mind I knew it was only a matter of time before he caught me. Embry knew this forest, knew this land, and my head wasn't clear enough for me to be able to evade him.

Even though I knew this, I couldn't find the will to stop running, to stop trying to escape, but when I found myself at the ledge of an insanely tall cliff. I didn't have any other choice but stay there and wait for him to find me. Like some kind of scared prey item.

"Finally," I heard him gasp as Embry saw me standing on the edge and looking down at the black abyss below. "Not even blood suckers run like that." My hands curled into fists at my sides in order to keep me from screaming at him. I[s] wanted [/s] needed to be alone right now.

"Hey, are you alright? You kind of left in a rush back there," I heard him walk up to me, but I wasn't bothered until his hand touched my shoulder. The contact felt like someone had taken a lighter and held it against my skin. Physical human interaction was NOT okay right now.

"Move your hand," I ordered through my clenched teeth. "Now." He didn't even lighten the force on my shoulder and instead did something really stupid. He spun me around as if to see my face and I couldn't control the hiss that ripped itself from my throat.

"Oh my god," whispered Embry.


	12. The Fall

"What the hell are you?" Embry immediately released his grip as if the thought of touching me now disgusted him. I don't know if it was the sudden movement of my shoulder being released, or fear of the now angry looking wolf in front of me, but I stumbled backward, unaware that I had literally walked right off the edge of a cliff.

"Embry!" I screamed and tried desperately to reach for him, sadly my effort was useless and I found myself falling toward the water below.

"Alai!" If this had been any other time I would have rolled my eyes at the fact Embry looked like he was about to kill me a second ago but now that my life was on the line, he seemed genuinely concerned. It must have been a dog thing.

I thought the fall would have lasted longer and was honestly surprised when my body hit the freezing water. But if there was one good thing about plummeting off a cliff into the insanely cold ocean below, it was that the shock had effectively banished my cat half to the back of my mind. This allowed me to think and I managed to swim back to the surface without thrashing about and causing myself even more harm than the fall and sharp rocks had already caused.

"Alai!" The wolf's voice didn't come from above me but from the beach a few hundred yards to my left. "Alaivera!" Embry seemed shaken up and on the verge of a panic attack so I decided not to answer and to watch his freak-out episode.

"Oh shit," he told himself as he continued to walk back and forth along the shore. His head was down and he was gripping at his hair in a way that had to be painful. "Jacob's going to kill me," he continued and I scoffed at the fact that if I _had_ died, the red and white wolf wouldn't have cared in the least.

"How am I going to explain this, 'hey Jake, your imprint's eyes looked a little weird so I pushed her off a cliff. I didn't get a good look of course, but in that half a second that I saw them, they didn't seem normal. Sorry for taking away your soul mate.' Yeah, I'm dead, really dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead, and super dead." Watching the boy freak out and start to practically plan his funeral gave me a sick feeling of satisfaction. Now he'll think twice before causing someone to fall off a cliff; I could say "pushed" but even I realized that he had done no such thing.

"Em, get your morbid ass over here and help me up these god damn rocks." Unlike a normal beach, this one didn't meet the water and there was a seven foot tall cliff-like face made of boulders that needed to be climbed in order to reach the soft sand at the top.

"Alai?" He called as he reached the area I was at and looked down at me.

"No, it's the Queen of fucking England," I hissed. Of course it was me, how big of an idiot does one have to be in order to think otherwise? Maybe I should ask the wolf that was currently staring at me as if I really _was_ the Queen of England; apparently he would be able to answer that question.

"I swear to all that is dark and evil in this world that if you do not give me your hand and help me up, I will kill you and get away with it." Fresh water I can handle, chlorinated water I can live with, but salt water just plain pissed me off; in case you couldn't tell.

"Okay, okay, no need to kill a person. I'm helping." Embry lied down on the sand and extended his hand downward for me to take. I, in turn, raised my right arm to grab it but immediately cried out in pain.

"Damn," The wolf barely let the words slip from his mouth before he jumped down onto the narrow ledge that I was standing on and took my arm as if to examine it. "Do you remember your arm hitting anything?" he asked without even an edge of humor in his voice for the first time since I'd known him.

"Yeah, I hit it on a rock while the rest of my body hit the water," he twisted my arm to the left and I let out a whimper that didn't even sound human to my own ears.

"My god, that had to hurt." Well of course it hurt! I fell off a cliff and part of my atomy hit a ROCK! You don't have to be a genius to figure that out. Then again, canines aren't the brightest bunch. Oblivious to my mental tirade, Embry lifted the sleeve of my shirt to get a better view of my arm and both he and I gasped at the crooked limb that quite obviously [i] had[/i] been broken before healing improperly.

"It shouldn't have healed that quickly," said the wolf in amazement. "You have a lot of explaining to do." His gaze met mine for the first time since he started inspecting my arm and I nodded silently for him to continue. "This is going to be really painful," he explained as he griped my arm, alerting to me what he was about to do. "I'd say I'm sorry about that… but I'm not." He twisted my arm painfully and I barely managed to keep from screaming.

"You're an ass," I hissed at him, remembering the unneeded comment that flew out of his mouth before he broke my arm for the second time in a ten minute period.

"Yeah, well, you're a bitch for lying to everyone." Embry didn't look at me and kept his eyes locked on my arm as it started to glow. "Does that always happen?" He asked confused.

"No," I answered honestly, not bothering to argue with his "lying to everyone" statement. Sometimes, even the best the liar, the biggest bitch, and the most awesome of people, must admit defeat. I wasn't happy about it, but I _was_ admitting it.

"My god is cruel, and probably finds this funny." The glowing stopped; a sign that the damaged was repaired, but as always, the pain was still present. This was just one of the drawbacks to being a magical creature instead of a natural one.

"Your god?" Embry asked with a perplexed expression clearing plastered on his face. "Don't you just mean God?" One thing most people will learn about me fairly quickly; is that I say what I mean unless I'm lying through my teeth.

"No, that's not what I mean." I said and jumped onto the sandy beach above me without so much as a sound.

"You didn't need my help at all," the boy said in amazement as he climbed up the ledge, apparently not possessing the jumping ability of a feline.

"No, I just figured it'd raise a few questions if I didn't ask for it." I cradled my arm against my chest and Embry eyed it suspiciously. Almost as if he thought I was faking the injury. "The arm may not be broken, but it feels like it." I explained and he nodded in understanding even though I knew he didn't have a clue as to why that was.

"Now, come with me. I think you need some answers." I turned to walk back to my house, but stopped and turned around before I could get very far. "I trust that whatever I tell you will be kept between us, correct?"

"Um… I don't think I have an option there, do I?" He asked sarcastically and I couldn't help but smile. Now he's getting it.

"No, you don't," I told him and started walking once again knowing the wolf was close behind me.


	13. The Cat Thing

"Are you coming in?" I asked as I walked through my front door only to see that Embry was standing on the porch with a look of pure terror on his face. "I promise I won't bite." Trust me; that wet dog smell radiating off him pretty much guaranteed that anyway.

"Okay," slowly the wolf placed one foot in front of the other until he was standing in the middle of my small living room. I rolled my eyes at his obvious discomfort before closing the door behind him and scooping up my white and grey tonkinesse, Lily, off the floor.

"Do you like cats, Embry?" I asked as I stroked the feline lovingly. She purred in my arms and a smile immediately formed on my face at the content way she nuzzled her head into the crook of my arm.

"Not especially," he whispered as he stepped away from me in a clear sign that it wasn't a good idea to come any closer with the animal in my grasp. "Actually, I'm kind of afraid of the things." I gave Lily one last scratch behind her smoky colored ears before setting her back on the tiled flooring and watching as she scrambled away.

"That's probably a good thing," I told him and I took the boy's arm before pulling over to one of the lower platforms in the room, which he had yet to comment on. "Cats don't like you," when a feline doesn't like you, it's a pretty good idea to stay away from them.

"How would you know?" asked Embry. The sparkle in his eyes was starting to return as he became slightly more relaxed and I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

"Well, that's something we should probably talk about. But remember, you said that you'd keep this between us," I looked out a window to my left and the sight of that beautiful full moon filled me with a new sense of peace.

"I won't tell anyone, I swear," he promised and I really hoped he meant it.

"Alright, I lied earlier," I started, figuring that was the best approach since he seemed to already know that. "I'm not part wolf…" Embry's brow wrinkled in confusion but I bit the bullet and continued. "…my family was cursed, blessed, I really don't care what you call it, a few hundred years ago, the curse was for every member of our family to live in both the world of man and beast, but never truly belong to either." I could practically hear the gears turning in the wolf's mind, but the confused look on his face never faltered.

"What the hell does that mean?" He asked and I should have known that taking the cryptic approach wasn't the best idea.

"I'm a cougar shifter."

The house suddenly became extremely quiet and the space separating me from the shape shifter seemed as though it was mere centimeters even if I knew subconsciously that it was more like several feet. I was just moments from jumping off the platform and making a hasty retreat when Embry started laughing hysterically.

"Sure," he said through his laughter. "Of course you are." My jaw tightened as he continued to laugh at my expense and my self control started wearing down when he made no move to calm himself. I felt my eyes shift again, much like they had in Jacob's presence, but for an entirely different reason.

"Crap," Embry whispered when he noticed that my eyes were no longer human. "You're not joking are you?" I shook my head and the wolf moved closer to get a better view of my face.

"So the hatred of females thing, is that because of the cat-whatever?" he asked and sat back while I cleared my head in order for my eyes to return to normal.

"Yeah, think of it this way. A large cat, like most animals, think of one thing all the time; passing on it's genes. I get along with guys because the primal part of my brain says that they're a good sign, I have more choices in mates, my offspring will be stronger, and I'll be protected. While a girl that enters my territory is taking away my mating options and leaving me vulnerable." It's basic animal behavior and that seemed to be a good thing since Embry looked as though he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"That would also explain why we always see you at night, you hate to be outnumbered, and why there's now a cougar on the reservation. Sorry about shooting you." He whispered the last part as if he was saying it for his own conscience instead of actually apologizing.

"Wasn't your fault," I told him and went to place a hand on his arm but he slid away from me as if I was some disease he didn't want to catch.

"Give me a minute," he said and stood up before starting to pace back and forth across the room. "I understand… kind of, but it's a lot to take in." Embry started mumbling to himself and I doubted I could have made out what he was saying even if I cared enough to try.

"I hope you're aware that you were fine after I told you, Embry," I told him after several minutes of just watching him pacing around my living room and talking to himself. "It must have taken awhile for the shock to sink in," I was speaking more for my sanity than his but he looked up anyway with a slightly crazed look in his eye.

"Keep talking," he whispered just loud enough for me to barely hear him from across the room. "Tell me stuff, anything. Just don't stop talking." I'm not going to lie and say I've been put in his shoes plenty of times in my life, but I had seen others go through this and I knew that the information I had just given him would drive him crazy if he kept thinking about it and trying to make connections his mind wasn't ready for. The only way to solve this was for him to listen to someone, to distract himself from the thoughts that were running through his mind.

"Don't hurt yourself by thinking too much," I warned and he just rolled his eyes but I noticed that his face relaxed as if he was actually taking my advice. "Since I can't read minds, I'm just going to tell you a whole much of random things and hope they clear this up for you."

"What's keeping you?" Asked Embry and the wolf nearly screamed when my large Main Coon named Bear walked into the room. "What is that thing?" You'd think the guy had never seen a cat before in his life by the terrified expression on his face.

"It's a cat," I answered and smiled when the boy continued to walk away from the animal as it made it's way through the room and to the kitchen in order to get to his food bowl.

"That thing is huge!" I don't think he meant to scramble away from the feline and practically jump in my lap, but I sure as hell meant to laugh at the display.

"Does this mean you're better now?" I asked. Embry had his arms wrapped around my waist was trying to hide behind me but failing miserably. I took that as a sign that he had gotten over his fear of me on his own, which meant I was happy since I didn't have to spend the next hour and half working him back into human society.

He didn't answer me and instead had his eyes locked on my pet who was eating quietly in the kitchen, oblivious to the commotion it was causing in the adjoining room.

"Apparently, the fear of my _house cat_ has brought you out of your shocked state." I said and started to pry the shape shifter's arms off me. "Strangely this made you less afraid of me as well," I managed to free myself just as Bear walked out of the kitchen, causing Embry to scream like a girl and jump onto the platform next to me.

"Hey Alai," he said once the incredibly scary kitty was out of the room. "What is this we're sitting on?"

"It's a platform," I replied as I tried not to laugh as the boy hit the solid wood a few times with his fist before looking up and noticing for the first time that I really didn't have any furniture except the platform we were sitting on and others like it.

"Cat thing?" he asked and I nodded my head in conformation.

"Cat thing," I answered.


	14. The Fight

"So you have to pray to this weird cat goddess every month on the night of the full moon or else you'll become a cougar permanently?" asked Embry as we continued through the forest at the leisurely pace we had set well over an hour ago. After deciding that my house - which was filled with four cats- wouldn't be the best place to continue our discussion.

"Yep, it's because the cougar form has more power, it sucks you in and if you're not careful then you forget why you switched back to being human in the first place." I knew from experience since there was a time a few years ago when I was tempted to give in to the feline side, only to be saved by a werewolf named Brandon.

"Is that what happened to your family?" He asked without looking at me, whether he avoided eye contact out of embarrassment or because he was concerned of falling, I have no idea.

"Yes," I said simply. "They allowed themselves to turn while under emotional distress. When that happens, there's a very low chance of them returning to the world of man." I had said 'allowed' but I knew very well that when the goddess decides to take you, there's very little you can do.

"Sorry, that kind of slipped out." Embry said apologetically. "I shouldn't have asked." I could have told him that he was right and that he should have kept his mouth shut, but for some reason I felt he had the right to know. I mean, he had agreed to help keep the others off my back and it was kind of nice to have one person that knew.

"It's fine," I replied. "It happened decades ago, I shouldn't get so worked up over it." After saying that, the entire forest became extremely silent and the only sounds I could hear was the constant crunch of leaves under our shoes.

"How old are you?" asked Embry suddenly when the word 'decades' apparently made their way into his brain.

"117," I told him and laughed when the boy's jaw dropped just moments before he tripped over a root and fell face first into a giant pile of fallen leaves. "Are you okay?" I asked, not really caring if he was or not because it was hilarious.

"Peachy," he answered sarcastically and slowly stood up as if he was afraid some kind of monster was going to spring forth from the leaves and attack him if he moved too quickly. "So, I'm guessing you're immortal or you've had a _lot_ of bot-ox injections."

"Immortal," I promised and watched as Embry tried desperately to get the leaves out of his hair. "Here," I stepped up to the frustrated canine and started picking out the leaves with much smaller fingers.

"Now wouldn't that just plain...suck?" he asked as the two of us started walking again. Though I did notice that Embry managed to keep his eyes on the path in front of him in order to keep from repeating his earlier experience. "I mean, what would happen if you found someone that you loved? Could you change them like a vampire, or would they just eventually die?" That was actually the first well thought out question he had asked all night, and quite possibly the most difficult to answer.

"I can't bite someone and have them become like me, if that's what you mean," I said. "But, each one of my kind, has a soul mate. This person in normally a vampire since they're also immortal, or a shape shifter because they live as long as their mate does. Though, if our soul mate is a human then after consummation of the bound, they'll become a cougar shifter as well." If you think about it for a second, it's not that complicated; then again I have known about this since I was five. That may have something to do with my ability to grasp the concept, Embry however, wasn't so lucky.

"So you do turn people, but yet you don't? That makes no sense." He argued and I mentally kicked myself for thinking a wolf could understand what I had said.

"No, the goddess turns the soul mate of a shifter, IF that person is human, and only AFTER both people have realized this and have consummated their bond. Have I made myself clear?" Embry's eyes widened as he started to understand what I was saying and I smiled, knowing I had gotten through that thick skull of his.

"Transparently," he said and the boy opened his mouth to say something else but before he had the chance to, we both heard the sound of a group of people walking in our direction.

"Damn," I moaned. "How do they always find me?" Every time I'm in the forest, the pack seems to find me. Now I'm not stupid, I keep down wind and manage to cover my trail pretty well, so there's no reason why it should be so easy for them. It's unnatural I tell you.

"Bad luck?" Offered Embry and I didn't think his attempt at a joke was very funny. He should definitely leave the comedy to me, I mean I'm hilarious.

"Yeah," I sighed, "we could run. I mean, I am pretty fast." I just really didn't want to be around a group of boys and one girl that have a combined IQ of 4, so sue me if my plans weren't exactly thought out.

"They'd just smell that we were here and wonder why we tried to hard to get away from them," He pointed out and I whined at the fact that he was completely right. Damn dogs, they're always doing something to piss me off.

"Kill me now," I mumbled when the wonderfully annoying pack came within my range of sight.

"But knowing you, you'd just come back to life." Embry whispered so that our intruders -yes, intruders- couldn't hear the exchanging of words.

"I should never mention anything important to ever again," I whispered back. "You'll just use it in one of your failed attempts at a joke." Embry chuckled and laid his head on my shoulder as the boys (and Leah) came to stand in front of us.

"Hey guys, wonderful night for a stroll, huh?" Embry asked with his head still resting on my left shoulder, his breath tickling the side of my neck.

"Yeah, whatever. You okay, Alai?" asked Seth and I had to hold my breath to keep from laughing at the unhappy look on Jake's face. It was almost like he was expecting to find me dead somewhere and was disappointed that I was still alive and kicking.

"I'm fine," I assured the cub, "Of course Embry did push me off a cliff, break my arm, and scare the living daylights out of my cat. But I'm fine." Shocked expressions, this is what I live for and let me tell you, I was definitely living now.

"YOU PUSHED HER OFF A CLIFF?" Screamed Sam and Leah at the same time, totally unaware of the other. Embry, knowing that he had some explaining to do, lifted his head from my shoulder and glared at me as if I was pure evil. I love that glare.

"He didn't mean to," I told them. "I actually just walked off a cliff because Embry looked mad about something and I didn't watch where I was going. Besides, most of me landed in the water." Embry's look softened, but the others still looked ready to kill, even Jacob seemed to want to rip someone's head off.

"Why were you angry?" asked Quil, he seemed to be the only one capable of speech at that exact moment.

"I told him we couldn't continue our secret love affair, of course." I said sarcastically. Most people would have laughed and shaken their head at my stupidity but not Jake. No, he had to be a crazy wackjob of a person.

Before I could say, "stop," before I could scream in warning, before I could say, "I was just joking, calm down." Jake turned into the large red and white wolf I had seen in the forest just days before and launched himself at an unsuspecting Embry.

"Embry!" I screamed as he too shifted in order to defend himself. "Guys stop it!" It was no use, the two wolves were dead set on killing each other and not even Sam or Paul looked as though they were going to stop this.

"I hate having to do everything," I hissed at the cowardly dogs behind me before tying my hair back with a scruchie, and pulling up the sleeves of my shirt to my elbows.

"Jake, Embry" I said as I stepped up to the two growling wolves. Neither paid me much attention and simply went back to fighting a few seconds after I spoke. "Fine!" If they weren't going to stop willingly then I had to force them to.

As Jacob launched himself once again at Embry, I grabbed him around the neck and wrestled him to the ground in just enough time to push Embry away as he tried to get around me in order to bite Jake one more time.

"Knock it off," I grabbed both dogs by the ear and twisted until two yelps of pain sounded through the night, and then continued until both animals shifted back into human form.

"What the fuck was that, Jake?" screamed Embry as he once again tried to attack Jacob, not caring that both boys were completely naked.

"Don't take it out on him," I said standing up since laying on top of a naked male wasn't such a good idea. "He's having a hard time with the imprint thing, and he must have overreacted to the whole 'love affair' comment." I sensed Jake get up behind me and I turned around just in time to see him shift again and run off into the forest.

"You know," I said to Sam. "We should really get that boy a leash."

**A/N: Alright, so this story is actually finished already, I finished it a few months ago but since I'm never on here, the chapters didn't get posted. But now I've decided to get each one on the site, so from now and until the end of the story, for each review this story recieves, I'll post a new chapter. So it's up to you, a new chapter every hour or new one every six months.**


	15. The Policy

Alaivera's Journal

**Tuesday, June 13, 2010 **

**Dear Journal, **

**It's been two weeks since Jacob's fight with Embry and I haven't heard from or seen my mate in that time. From what I've gathered, no one has, and I have the strange feeling that he's with Bella, (some human girl he feels is his "true love" or other such rot.) I don't know what he sees in her, she's just...not his type and I can say this from just spending two days with the man.**

**Well, wherever he is, he better he get back soon, or withdrawal will start, I'm not aware of how the distance will affect him since I haven't learned much about the imprint bond, but I know my cat will not be pleased. She will be hard to control and I fear for my life if Jake keeps up this childish game of hide and seek.**

"No," I said sternly as I looked down at the crashing waves several stories below me. "I'm not going to jump off this cliff." Maybe they forgot the very painful experience I went through the last time I did something that stupid. (My arm STILL hurts)

"Come on," said Leah. "It's not the same one Embry pushed you off of, there's no rocks at the bottom." I had already seen that for myself and didn't know why the girl thought it was wise to tell me once more.

"I. Am. Not. Going. To. Do. It." I said slowly so the entire pack could understand what I was saying. "I will not jump off the cliff for fun, and I will not be made to feel guilty about my decision either." There was an evil look in Paul's eye that I knew meant he wasn't about to listen to me.

"Come on," he whined like a child that had been denied candy. "You chased our friend away, it's now your responsibility to entertain us." I lifted my gaze slightly until I was looking into the wolf's dark brown eyes.

"Entertain you I will," I promised coldly. "But it won't be fun for any of you." Only Sam met my eyes as I looked at each member of the decent sized pack.

"Fine, you don't have to jump." Said Embry, "but you're going to have to if you want your sunglasses back." Before I had the chance to stop him, the boy reached over and took the sunglasses off my head.

"You really shouldn't have done that," said Jared when he saw the murderous look I was giving his pack mate. You don't touch my sunglasses, Quil had a nice sized scar on his ear to prove that and Embry was literally playing with fire.

"Oh, she's not going to hurt me," he said confidently. "I'm her bestest friend." Not even I could argue with that, even though I had grown close to everyone, Embry was definitely my go-to guy if I wanted someone to talk to, annoy, or just plain hang out with.

"Just keep telling yourself that," said Seth and he laughed when I tried to snatch the glasses from Embry, unfortunately he was expecting that and managed to dance away from my sneaky hands.

"Em, don't make me hurt you." I hissed and slowly stalked up to the now smiling mutt. He just backed up until he was on the very edge of the cliff face and smiled since he knew very well that I wasn't going to risk chasing after him.

"Now, Alai, you know better than to make threats you can't keep." The laughter that had exploded over the top of the cliff immediately died down and the only sound was the whistling of the wind over the rocks.

"He went and did it now," said Quil just moments before I ran into Embry, pushing us both off the cliff.

"I really hate you," I half hissed and half laughed as I hung onto the wolf for dear life before the ice cold water washed over us.

I was expecting the shock this time and managed to hang onto Embry, who was able to bring us back to the surface easily.

"That wasn't so bad," he said sarcastically. "Was it?" The wolf held up my sunglasses and I immediately snatched them from his hand before dunking his dark head under the water. There's my answer.

Without waiting for him to resurface, I started swimming back towards the sandy beach and saw a single person standing there as if he was waiting for us.

"When the hell did you get back?" asked Embry from behind me. Apparently he didn't drown like I wanted him to. Curse the doggy paddle.

"Just now," said Jake stiffly. "You look like you're having fun." There was something strange in his voice, some double meaning that I definitely didn't understand. Embry and I shared the same concerned look before crossing the small distance of ocean between us and Jake before finding ourselves once again on dry land. Where humans, dogs, and cats, belong might I add.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked harshly. I wasn't exactly in a good mood, there was salt water in my hair, the sand felt strange under my feet, and the sun was blazing over head. Not a good combination in my book.

"Nothing," said Jake just as the other members of pack started walking toward us. "Sorry about the other day, Em. Hope you're alright." He ran his hand through his medium length hair and eyed me suspiciously. Sadly, that's how everyone eyes me.

"I'm fine," said Embry. "But it wasn't the other day, the fight happened almost three weeks ago. Where have you been?" When Jake didn't say anything Sam stepped up and placed a tentative hand on his Beta's shoulder.

"Jake, you can't run away every time there's a problem. Now tell us, what's going on?" Jake shrugged off Sam's hand and his gaze traveled over every one of us before stopping on me.

"Nothing," he answered and spun around before walking away with his hands in his pockets as if he was simply going for a walk along the beach.

"What's his problem?" asked Seth, "he's acting like his dad just died or something. Do you think something happened that he's just not telling us about?"

"I don't know," said Sam honestly. "But there's definitely something bothering him." My eyes hadn't left Jake's back and I noticed every detail – no matter how small – of his body language. The answer was so obvious it seemed to scream at me to notice it.

"He's scared." I whispered without letting the dog out of my sight. "He was gone for too long, the bond was starting to hurt him and now he's scared that he won't be able to fight it."

"He won't be," Sam replied. "I went through the same thing with Emily, there's no use fighting against it. He's going to have to give in eventually. I just want to know why he's rejecting it like he is." Now if we knew that then we wouldn't be in this situation, now would we?

"I think he's jealous of my amazing ability to charm people." I said seriously and kept a straight face even when everyone around me starting laughing. "I'm not joking." That only made them laugh harder and I gave up on trying to make it through their thick skulls.

"Whatever, I'm going home. Anyone want to join me?" I needed a shower and I needed one now. "The fridge is fully stocked," I added when no one said anything.

"Then why the hell are we still standing here for?" asked Embry as he picked me up and threw me over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey, I don't like being mutt-handled." I complained as he, along with the rest of the pack, started walking in the direction of my house.

"Deal with it," the wolf said jokingly. "But honestly, how does my butt look from that angle?" It wasn't until he brought it up that I noticed how close my head really was to his rear-end.

"Pinch-able." I answered and actually pinched the rear in question, making Embry scream and laugh at the same time. Yes, it did sound weird.

"She goosed me!" he exclaimed and I immediately heard Leah's voice as she spoke up.

"Well, you did ask for her honest opinion," said the female wolf. "Apparently she feels very strongly about said opinion." At least someone defends me; the other boys wouldn't have said anything. Maybe I should rethink my female policy. You know; the one that says I hate them.

"Hey, Leah! Come over here!" I ordered and before I even finished speaking the girl had walked behind Embry and was staring down at me as if I was an idiot.

"What?" She asked as if I wasn't hanging upside down and didn't have my chin on some guy's butt.

"My keys are in my back pocket. I don't trust the boys to get them, so it's your job." I bent my head up to look at her and tried to give the girl a pleading expression but from the way she rolled her eyes, I doubt it was successful.

"Em, get her keys please," said Leah as we turned onto my street. I was just about to yell out for Embry to keep his hands away from me, when his hand went down my back pocket and grabbed the keys with a little more force than necessary.

"He groped me!" I screamed and hit my fist against his back which made him cry out and drop me onto the VERY hard concrete.

"Are you okay?" asked Paul and his hand immediately went to his mouth in order to hide his smile. Embry on the other hand made no move to conceal his howling laughter.

"That's what you get for hitting me!" He chuckled. Now come on! You all saw what he did to me, that mutt deserved to be hit, smacked, kicked, and much… much more.

"You know what?" I screamed angrily in order to keep myself from laughing hysterically at the predicament I had found myself in. "Give me my keys, Leah and I will go inside. You boys will go find Jake and beat some sense into him." I held out my hand without getting up and smiled when Embry mumbled something about "evil bitches that always get what they want" and placed the keys in my hand.

"You're making as dinner," said Seth as Sam grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him way from Leah and I, the others following with huge smiles on their faces.

"I get to punch him first," sung Embry and when everyone turned to him in confusion he answered their looks by saying. "I mean, the guy did try to kill me. I think it's my right to punch him first."

"Don't disfigure him too badly," I joked as I unlocked my front door. "If I'm stuck with him forever then I at least want to enjoy the view." Leah snickered but managed to dodge my hand before it made contact with the back of her head.

"No promises!" yelled Quil and the pack howled in approval.

"Do they always do that?" I asked Leah as we walked into my house. "It's kind of weird." Howling in wolf form I can understand but when they look like humans they should act like it. That's my take on the subject.

"Sadly, they do." She told me, "it's an idiot thing." Oh, I'm definitely changing my female policy.


	16. The Nutcase

[Jacob]

Jake didn't know what was wrong with him, he was currently pacing back and forth in his backyard and had been doing so since he left his pack in order to return home but he was no closer to discovering why his emotions were all over the place.

One minute he was angry, then he was sad, then happy, then afraid, then jealous, then loving, they switched so frequently that Jacob was having a hard time remembering his own name. The fact he was able to continue his walking was a small miracle in itself.

"Jake!" he heard Sam's voice only moments before his pack rounded the corner of his house. "What are you doing back here?" The shape shifter's vision took on a red tint as he was filled with a hatred for the older boy that would have made Hitler sick if he had experienced it.

"Get the fuck off my property!" He screamed and the moment the last word left his mouth, Jake's eyes began to water. "I'm so sorry, Sam. I didn't mean that." The wolf started sobbing and his pack traded worried glances before walking up to the boy who was now sitting on the ground with his head on his knees and crying uncontrollably.

"What's the matter?" asked Jared. He was the only one brave enough to bend down next to his friend but when Jacob looked up at him, he started to rethink his decision. The emotionally unstable werewolf's eyes were filled with anger and Jared immediately backed up, just barely managing to stay upright when he tripped over a rock.

"Don't you dare ask me that!" Jake yelled and made a move to get up before slumping back down onto the hard packed earth. "Please stay away from me," he whimpered when Paul tried to reach out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Uh… Jake, are you okay?" asked Sam and was reward with a glare that sent shivers down his spine and would more than likely give him nightmares for months.

"Of course I'm not alright! I feel like Jasper!" This time Jake's emotions didn't immediately shift and he managed to stand up and was just about to wrap his hands around the alpha's throat when he was suddenly hit by a pang of regret.

"I shouldn't take out my anger on you guys; it's not your fault." He said calmly and started to explain what was happening before another round of anger or hatred washed over him. "My emotions are everywhere right now," he whispered.

"What happened to you?" asked Embry and Jacob looked up from the very fascinating dirt, making Embry flinch back in fear.

"Like you care!" Jake screamed. "You just want me out of the picture so you can have MY imprint!" He grabbed his friend by the shoulders, intent on shaking him until he felt better but instead pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Em." The now frightening boy whispered, his words did nothing to calm Embry who still wanted to run as far away as he possibly could before hiding under a rock. (A big rock.) "You're my best friend I shouldn't treat you like that."

"It's okay Jake. Does this emotional crisis have anything to do with you suddenly reappearing?" Embry didn't know if asking that was a good idea or not. He had just said whatever came to mind, so he was happy when Quil pulled him away from Jake just as his rage took over.

"No, it's that bitch Alai!" Jacob ranted, causing his pack to back away a few feet. "I can't even go visit a friend for a few weeks without her fucking up my head!" Sam was the only one in their group to have experienced the pull of the imprint but even he had never felt anything like what Jake apparently was.

"But she is really pretty, isn't she?" The emotional nutcase sighed with a small smile playing at his lips. "I've never met a girl that use sarcasm as a weapon before her." Paul had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the faraway look on his friend's face.

"How about we go see her," offered Paul. If being away from the girl was causing him to become emotionally unstable then the only cure he could think of was for Jake to be around her.

"Good idea," Jacob said dreamily and allowed his pack to pull him in the direction of Alaivera's home. "Get your hands off me!" He screamed after a few moments. Jake fought desperately to get away from his friends but they all had a good grip on his arms and no matter how hard he tired, he couldn't find a way out of their clutches.

"I love you guys," whispered Jake after he was suddenly filled with a simply _lovable_ feeling.

"We love you too, Jake." Said Quil, "but seriously, don't talk." If he managed to keep his mouth shut then maybe the pack _wouldn't_ kill Jake before they reached their destination.

[Alaivera]

"You could be so pretty if you actually put some effort into your appearance." I said as I started to dry my blonde hair with a white, fluffy towel. Leah was sitting on the platform I used as a bed and simply stared at me as if I had three heads after I had spoken.

"Alai, did you slip and hit your head in the shower?" She asked without a single hint that she was joking. "Out of all the words someone could use to describe me, 'pretty' is not one of them." I stopped my slightly obsessive drying of my hair and gaped at the Native American girl a few feet above me.

"Get your sorry ass down here right now!" I ordered and pointed to a chair near the window before hurling my towel in the direction of the bathroom, not really caring if it made it there or not. I had other things to worry about, like the apparent low self esteem that my _almost_ friend had.

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Leah as she jumped down and walked over to the chair I had pointed to. She looked like she wanted to run away at the speed of light and I truly didn't feel that reaction was necessary.

"Nothing. Now sit there and keep your mouth closed." I ordered as I retrieved a bowl of water from the bathroom, laughing softly to myself when I noticed the sad looking towel on the floor next to the sink. I could have picked it up but I lack the ability to multitask with liquids in my hands, so it remained in its current location.

"What are you doing?" Leah asked as I set the bowl on the desk and turned to look at her with the sweetest smile I could muster plastered on my face.

"Two things," I told her and held up two fingers so there was no mistaking my statement. "Brush your hair and wash your face. That's it, I promise." The girl didn't look happy about this but didn't scream and jump out my window whenever I started working, I took that as a good sign.

[Jacob]

"I don't care why you're doing this, get your hands off of me!" Jake screamed when the pack arrived at Alai's house and knocked on the bright red door.

"Calm down," ordered Sam and the younger shape shifter went limp in their arms before starting to cry for the seventh time since they had dragged him away from his backyard.

"I'm just so confused," he sobbed. "Nothing's like it's supposed to be." Seth patted the boy's back reassuringly just as Alaivera opened the door. Her usually blonde hair was several shades darker due to the water that was still dripping from its ends and for the first time since Jake met her, she was dressed more for comfort than anything else.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked and was immediately pulled into a hug by an emotional Jacob.

"I missed you so much," he sobbed into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry I was a jealous brat. I'm not even dating you, I had no right to overreact like that." If Jake was in his normal state of mind, he would have laughed in the face of anyone that told him he would have been hugging the blonde psychopath.

"I hate having to repeat myself, so is anyone going to answer my earlier question?" Alai asked as she tried unsuccessfully to pry the werewolf's arms from around her waist.

"His emotions are all over the place right now, he says it's all your fault." Answered Paul, and that statement earned him a blue-eyed glare and a hiss that sounded distinctively feline.

"Sorry, reflex," Alai apologized and both she and Embry let out a sigh of relief when no one seemed too suspicious of the strange sound.

"Hey, who's here?" asked Leah as she walked down the stairs. Jake was too preoccupied with sobbing into his imprint's shirt to look up, but the other boys did and when he heard the sharp intake of breath from behind him, the shape shifter raised his head to see Leah –well he thought it was Leah.

Her hair was brushed, practically screaming to be touched and her face was clear of the constant smudges of dirt which made her skin practically glow. Yes, she looked good; yes, Jake thought any man would bow down at her feet in attempt to get her to notice them; and yes, he was the one man that wouldn't. She was pretty, but the blonde his arms were currently wrapped around was so much more than that. Later he would blame what happened next on that last sentence.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" he yelled, pulling away from the girl and glaring down at her. "Is your need for everything to be perfect so strong that you can't even keep yourself from interfering in the lives of other people?" Jake didn't mean a word of the rant that was flowing from his mouth like water from a tap, but he couldn't find the will to silence himself.

"You just have to control everything don't you!" he continued even though his friends were trying to shut him up. "It doesn't matter if people want your help or not, you just have to fuck up their lives." Jacob didn't know what happened; one minute he was screaming things he really didn't mean, and the next his cheek was on fire. It took him a few moments but he finally came to the conclusion that Alai had slapped him.

"Get. Inside." She growled in a way that made Jake fear for his life, he swore he heard Paul whimper in fear but didn't dare try to confirm his suspicions. "Now!" No one refused the blonde who looked to be seconds away from having every last one of the wolves neutered.

"I'm going to call one of my friends and ask if he knows what's wrong with you." She said darkly once the pack was standing in her foray. "Don't touch anything." The girl was marched off into the kitchen and for several seconds the pack just stood there, too afraid to speak, but still managing to get their unhappy thoughts across to Jake with dark looks.

"EMBRY!" She called and the wolf yelped before giving his friends an apologetic glance and walking off to find the girl.

_'I am going to die today.'_ Thought Jake as he watched his friend exit the room, Embry's fear clearly showing in the way his shoulders hunched as if he were a kicked puppy. _'Why the hell can't I keep my mouth shut?'_


End file.
